He had always believed holiness meant shutting every door that led to longing, confusing numbness with virtue and silence with obedience. But beside her, in that small car that suddenly felt too full of heat and questions, he learned that ignorance is not innocence. Her mention of Psalm 129 was not a weapon, but a key he refused to turn. Only later, alone under the weary church lights, did he finally read what he had claimed to know, and find a promise of glory waiting just beyond the words he’d never bothered to truly see.
He understood then that the most dangerous temptations are not the obvious ones, but the chances we misjudge because we never learned our own language—of faith, of calling, of desire. Opportunity rarely shouts; it often whispers in verses, in timing, in quiet, offered courage. Failing to listen can cost more than any sin ever could.